Release date: November 16 2004 Redin to be honored with renaming of athletic hall of honor

PLAINVIEW -- Wayland Baptist University will honor one of its most legendary coaches Saturday with the dedication of the Harley Redin Athletic Hall of Honor. The ceremony will be held as part of the Hall of Honor induction ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 20, part of homecoming festivities at Wayland.

The induction will take place at 10 a.m. in McClung University Center, room 211, with longtime supporter and pilot Mike Hutcherson and former Flying Queen Brenda Moeller Niebuhr to be added to the hall. The ceremony will then honor Redin for his vast accomplishments as head coach at Wayland.

Redin served as head coach of the Pioneers basketball team from 1946-57, the first two years while Wayland was still a junior college. He then began coaching the women’s squad, the Hutcherson Flying Queens, in 1955, doubling his coaching duties for two seasons. Redin took over the Queens solely in 1957 and coached the team until 1973.

Over his long career at Wayland, Redin amassed 608 wins and only 165 losses, leading the Queens to six AAU National Champion titles and six AAU runner-up finishes. He was instrumental in the women’s game adopting the unlimited dribble, the 30-second clock and the move to the full-court game.

Redin authored the book “The Queens Fly High” in 1958, detailing his coaching strategies in the game of women’s basketball. He was named to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame this summer and will be inducted in February 2005. He is also a member of the National Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the Texas High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame and the athletic halls of honor at Wayland and Tarleton State University. An annual coaching award is presented to a Wayland alumnus in his honor.

A native of Silverton, Redin played at Tarleton State and at North Texas State University. He served as a Marine Corps captain and pilot during World War II.

The renaming of the hall of honor was made possible by donations from former Flying Queens and other friends of Redin. Funds raised will go toward renovations of the hall, located in the lower level of Hutcherson Center, and a plaque noting donors will be hung in the room.